A Goofy Roadtrip to the Mouse Part 11.

[Goofmeister]

A few notes:

These are long.
The trip was December 2002.

If you like, you can find the others here. Well, even if you don't, they're still here:
Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9a. Part 9b. Part 10.

Cast:
Sam (30) - the Planner, (1985,1987,2000) Trip # 4
Angie (30) - Eeyore nut and researcher, (2000) Trip # 2
Samantha (3.75) (2000) Trip # 2

Day 8, Friday December, 6th 2002
What goes up must go down face first
Weather: Cool and Slightly sunny
Plan: AK and Donald’s Breakfastasaurus, Wonderland Tea party, and Whispering Canyons

The alarm clock went off and was silenced with a mighty smack of the snooze. The wake up call came, “There’s Big Doin’s…” Click. Not this morning, there was no “doin’s” going on unless you counted sleeping. The alarm clock went off again, and then was silenced evermore.

We didn’t make it to Donald’s Breakfastasaurus and for those of you expecting a fun report of this popular breakfast in the Animal Kingdom. Don’t be disappointed I’m sure somewhere someone has gone, and has written about it in their trip report. I imagine they had a frolicking good time with the characters, and the food was good, but not great. Dear friends search out and satisfy your curiosity, ‘cause we were more curious about the inside of our eyelids than Donald.

Eventually, hunger got us moving and I ran downstairs to Roaring Forks, and back returning with a couple of cheeseburgers, cereal and some stuff to drink in our refillable mugs. According to my receipt it was 11:22 am. We were due at the GF for a Wonderland Tea Party at 1:30pm.

We arrived via monorail. We always take the monorail to the GF. Some of you, unfamiliar with WDW may be asking yourself, “You can get to the GF from the WL by monorail?”. To which I would answer no. We took the boat to the MK and then the resort monorail over to the GF. Of course you may be wondering what the heck is GF, WL, and MK. Well, after reading, and typing Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, and Magic Kingdom over and over again you’ll appreciate these abbreviations. It seems annoying at first, but you’ll probably fall in line with the rest of us sheep. BAAAA. I’m even warming up to the DD, DH, DW nonsense because it’s so darn easy, and everybody understands the relationships between the people in the reports. Enough! We made it to check in for the Tea Party.

I feel obligated, for some strange reason, to describe the Tea Party. Its for children only, they spend an hour with Alice and the Mad Hatter and make some snacks, eat them and well I don’t know what else because it’s a big stinkin’ secret. They line the children up at the doors to 1900 Park Fare, and admonish the parents not to peek, and to keep out. Samantha was closed mouth about the whole thing. She wouldn’t tell us anything except that she had fun.

Ok, back to the story. They lined the kids up, warned the spying parents, and then opened the doors. We were told not to go in, but a few adults did anyway. Samantha climbed up in her chair, turned around, and then did a slow motion face plant into the carpet. As usual I was operating the camcorder during the carpet dive, which prevented me from reacting as quickly as Mom. Angie rushed in and consoled our upset child. It didn’t help that the clueless were here and made a comment about children crying already. Why they felt it was their duty to make any comment confounds me. Oh yeah, they were clueless, and thoughtless. I’ve never seen a problem solved or a situation improved by a snide comment from a stranger. What are you going to do? Angie did the right thing and comforted our child. Her pride restored, and no physical damage Samantha enjoyed the Tea Party while Mom and I explored the lobby. A couple of parents decided to peek anyway, and were sharply reprimanded by the CM’s and then by all the children in unison. “NO PEEKING!”.

According to the receipt we removed some cash from the ATM in the lobby at exactly 1:42 PM. I participated in a popular GF activity, dozing on a sofa until it was time to pick up Samantha. The lights were off, but the children were all inside with their heads on the table. They were sleeping. The CM invited the Moms to come stand behind their child very quietly. All of a sudden, “SURPRISE!” yelled the kids. Laughing they gave their mothers flowers. It was very cute. They were so excited about the surprise.

The Magic Kingdom was only a monorail ride away. We totally blew an opportunity to ride up front. We were there first, and were all alone. The CM kept looking at us like he was expecting me to say something. I didn’t, and it didn’t dawn on me until someone else asked him if they could ride up front. Doh!

Samantha and I rode Dumbo together while Angie grabbed some Caramel popcorn and a sprite from Scuttle’s Landing. It was 3:08 PM. This was my favorite video from the trip. I held the camcorder up and filmed us flying around Fantasy Land. Eventhough Dumbo doesn’t go up very high, you can still get some great shots of the castle, and the surrounding areas. But this wasn’t the best part of the film. It was the audio that I liked the most. Over the soft whir of machinery was Samantha’s unabashed joy and laughter. “Higher, Higher, up, up, up, way high” she giggled. If I were a poet I could sum up the magic of WDW in this one small moment. Suffice to say it is more than the joy of my children. Rarely as an adult do I get so wrapped up in anything that I forget about everything else. As I child, I can remember playing in my backyard and being so absorbed into what I was doing that it seemed real until someone broke the illusion. The toy cars were actually cars being pursued by the police doing crazy jumps ala “Dukes of Hazzard”. Its only at WDW that I cease to care if there is even a world outside let alone what is going on in it. Whatever it may be, it was magic to me.

Next we climbed aboard the carousel, and twirled our way to happiness. What’s more happy than “It’s a Small World?” I don’t know, and neither did Samantha. She sang along with the music.

It was a MVMCP night, and since we didn’t have tickets were unceremoniously escorted from the park. I felt they were a little cruel to the day guests. But they did have to clear the place out for the partygoers. We had originally planned on eating at the Whispering Canyon, but decided we were not in the mood for a sit down meal.

We were, however, in the mood for EPCOT. We headed directly for the community of tomorrow and had enough time to do the Living Seas before they closed Future World. It was pathetic. Perhaps the late hour had an impact. But there was no marine life, no manatees, no dolphins, and only a few small schools of fish. The place was deserted, and since they had nothing to see we were in and out in a few minutes.

At 6:42 PM we slurped two cokes and a Lemonade from Sandwich/Soup/Salad. I’m guessing that this was in the Land. We wandered over to the WS and finally had a beaver tail. It was good, but I was expecting something awesome. I’ll have to try this again sometime.

Still hungry we made our way to the Liberty Inn. It was warm inside, which was good because it was getting cold, and windy outside. Dined on chicken tenders, cheeseburger and a turkey club with two delicious Cokes and one Sprite at 7:13 pm.

The evening parade was to start soon. We lined up across for the American Gardens Theater and listened to the end of a Candlelight Processional program while we waited. ToD was ToN except with fewer “floats” and less inspiring music. It was good, and I like the big puppets, but it just didn’t impact me like the original. It seemed redundant and thin in several places. Samantha liked it. She clapped and said hello to a puppet that bent down to her.

To warm up and because we were close and had never done it before we watched the American Adventure. It was moving, and the “spirits” of America that border the theater were an interesting touch.

Outside of Morocco we guarded a spot along a wall to view Illuminations. Angie chased down some delicious hot cocoa for us. We hunkered down behind the wall to stay out of the wind until the show started. The music is EPCOT, and the show will always bring back the warm memories and feelings of this park. Cold, but happy we headed back to the WL.

Highs: Wonderland Tea Party, Dumbo
Lows: Being too cold
Tips: The Wonderland Tea Party is a lot of fun for children, Don’t forget to ask if you can sit up front on the monorail (say please).

Part 12.

 

[HaleyB]

I love your trip reports. Thanks for taking the time to share the magic!

 

[Goofmeister]

Glad you enjoy them. It means a lot.